


Great Expectations

by Neptunium134



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Exam answer, F1 - Freeform, Formula 1, Gen, I suppose, Racing, Random - Freeform, Unexpected ending(?)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 14:23:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16266029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neptunium134/pseuds/Neptunium134
Summary: Written as an answer from my English Language Paper One mock. Prompt: "Write a story about a time when things turned out unexpectedly.""Lance didn’t feel confident for Sunday’s race. His car had broken down and he had two penalties for engine and gearbox replacements, meaning he qualified 20th behind Stoffel who had a brake penalty from the last race."





	Great Expectations

**Author's Note:**

> This was my actual answer for my English mock, and my English teacher had to read it!
> 
> I wonder if she had to go and watch an F1 race to understand it...
> 
>  
> 
> Apparently, I made her life hell cuz it's about 5 pages on the exam paper, but the pages aren't that big and I have larger handwriting than my friends. (It's not THAT large, just bigger than Eloise's or Emily's)
> 
> I was also the only person in my class to write via the story prompt instead of the description prompt, so when my teacher was going on about description dos and don'ts, I was just kinda sitting there like an idiot cuz I did a story.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Lance didn’t feel confident for Sunday’s race. His car had broken down and he had two penalties for engine and gearbox replacements, meaning he qualified 20th behind Stoffel who had a brake penalty from the last race.

 

Esteban wasn’t making it any easier for him. Having qualified 8th, the Frenchman was ecstatic and kept going on and on about it. Lance gritted his teeth and let his friend enjoy his moment, secretly wondering if he could pull off a Kimi and say as little as possible in the interviews.

 

He sat in his hotel room that night, unable to sleep. With a mug of coffee in his hand, he scrolled through some articles about the Quali; one, in particular, caught his eye.   
Being the son of a billionaire, he had many criticisms, but this one was a whole new level. Turning his phone off, he threw it onto the sofa and sat in the darkness.

 

Lance definitely didn’t feel confident for the race on Sunday. He was tired and was trying so hard not to vomit in his helmet. His head was pounding, and he had to ask Claire for some paracetamol before the race. He barely had time to gag down the pills before he was rushed off to his car and the race started.

 

He didn’t start well, almost crashing into Vandoorne’s car as the Belgian slowed into Turn One. He came down the inside the avoid collision, their wheel, their wheels just touching as Lance fought to keep control.

 

On Lap 10, his race engineer informed him of a VSC due to crash between Max and Pierre, with Pierre retiring.

 

Lap 28 saw Perez retire after his suspension started playing up. Lance was now in 15th, having overtaken Stoffel, Brendon and Charles.

 

Lap 34 saw Lance in 11th behind his teammate Sergey. Esteban was now 5th, he saw on the screen.

 

Sergey pitted on Lap 45, allowing Lance to overtake Fernando and gain 9th place. He could see Esteban as the Force India went into Turn 3.

 

Another crash on Lap 48, between the two race leaders saw Lance in 7th place. He was right behind Riccardo, if he could only get a little closer…

 

He was now in 6th place, the Red Bull behind him and Esteban in front. The gap was 0.4 seconds. He could do that, right?   
He pressed his foot down. He was catching up to Esteban. 0.2, down the inside.

 

Lance was now in 5th place. He could see Valtteri Bottas leading with Kimi right behind.

 

With Lap 52, Lance was now in second place, having overtaken Valtteri when the Mercedes pitted. It was the final lap, Lance’s Williams just 1.01 seconds behind Kimi’s Ferrari. He just needed to close that gap.

 

A silver flash appeared in his mirror. Valtteri was catching up with him! On the home straight, no less!   
Lance knew Valtteri’s Mercedes was faster than his Williams. He knew the Finn would catch up.

 

Lance pushed harder on the pedal, willing the car to go faster as the Silver Arrow flew past and landed 2nd place.

 

The Canadian parked his car in the P3 spot, leaping out of his car and pulling off his helmet as he made a beeline for the bin by the garage, finally bringing his lunch up. 

 

There was a hand on his back and he looked up to Valtteri with a concerned look on his face. To his surprise, Kimi wasn’t far behind.

 

Lance waved off the two Finns as they made their way to the podium room, grabbing water bottles and place caps as they approached the podium.

 

With his 3rd place trophy in his hand and standing on the podium, looking down on the Baku race track, next to Kimi  Räikköne n of Ferrar, Lance Stroll grinned, finally proud of something in his F1 career.

 

Lance was confident for Sunday’s race, no matter what happened.

 

As Kimi sprayed champagne over him, Lance found himself beginning to laugh, spraying the older Finn with his own champagne.

 

Lance was definitely confident for the race on Sunday.


End file.
